The Questory of Root Karbunkulus - Quill (20 page)

“Well, the last thing we need is a kid
dragging us down.”

The moon was high above before the argument
ended. Root had been overruled. There was nothing she could say.
They were in urgent need of supplies and couldn’t be slowed. She
was reminded rather rudely that they were in a race and the
artifact was NOT a CowPigRodent.

In the morning the animal would be left
behind.

It was just awful. Utterly pathetic.

Even Lian and Dwyn could hardly bare it,

CowPigRodent galomping along below them,
tripping, falling, whimpering against the scraping thorns of
bushes, galomping and falling again, her knobby, skinny, hairless
legs splaying across the ground then dragging herself up again.
Anything to keep up. Anything to stay with them, her newfound
family. Surely they were just toying with her. Any minute now they
would come back dowm with pats and smiles.

Any second now. Right?

It was pitiful.

Dwyn landed Hana. A bathroom break.
Remarkably timed, one might say.

No one said anything as Dwyn ‘accidentally’
dropped a few treats right beside the panting CowPigRodent who just
happened to be right there with the same remarkable timing. And
eyes averted altogether when the thing coincidentally found fresh
water from Lian’s ‘accidentally’ spilled flask.

Several more remarkably timed breaks led to
the conclusion that the creature had been forgiven entirely. By
sundown, in her homely way, nestled by their fire she had even
somehow become cute. Most likely because she was so happy. So
ridiculously, devotedly, gratefully happy.

By nightfall she was no longer CowPigRodent
but CPR. As in “No, CPR!” and “Down, CPR!” and “G’night CPR, you
silly lovable thing.”

Morning greeted the team with a sparkling sun
and a blue sky. After another disappointing ‘discussion’ with Road,
they were still either headed directly for the sea and thus their
destination or they were aiming for the scalding heat and pecking
order of the Twal Desert. The fact that it was very hot already did
nothing for their confidence.

A pep talk was in order.

Bright side: They were happy now that their
sleep had been won back, happy to move on, get back in the
game.

Gloomy side: For all they knew the game was
over, with all HaloEm Quills found while they’d been petrified in
amber.

Bright side: Possibly. But they had no way of
knowing.

Gloomy side: That’s a pretty lame bright
side.

Bright side: But it was true and so why not
choose the more upbeat and equally viable possibility that even now
all five Quills had remained from the competition’s grasp.

Gloomy side: I’m hot!

Bright side: At least it’s not raining.

Gloomy side: Not yet. And we’ve got no rain
gear!

Bright side: Well, if we end up in the Twal
Desert, we won’t have to worry about rain gear.

Gloomy side: Aha! So, you think we’re gonna
die…shrivel up in the Twal Desert!

Bright side: Well, it’d be better than
sitting here listening to you!

It wasn’t a very productive pep talk. In the
end, they decided that a fifty-fifty chance of a sea arrival wasn’t
really that bad. It was fairly hopeful and enough to get them to
their feet.

They moved efficiently, even around CPR’s
clumsy affection and soon all were fed (more berries, yay), packed,
and mounted on Hovers.

Picture perfect, Root thought and pulled out
her shiny new Brotswin. Briefly the Sage Mother’s paintings flashed
across her memory and her heart constricted. But she folded the
canvases up in her mind and tucked them neatly away behind a door
with a ‘Closed’ sign hanging from its handle.

She aimed the Brotswin. This would be the
first archive of her new life and the new memories she would take
into it.

“Say cheese!” she said as it focused on her
friends.

“Why?” Lian asked.

“It’s just a saying. Smile!”

They smiled.

Puwff! A flash and then Root took a quick
peek to see how it turned out.

Quite badly apparently. A warped blur to be
exact. Must have not focused properly. Root aimed the Brotswin
again. This time both Lian and Dwyn said cheese and made faces.

Puwff! Root looked again. Again it sucked.
Where her friends should have been, instead was a muddy smear of
color. Plus it looked more like a lone figure than the two standing
in front of her, still making faces and now laughing. Did the Sage
Mother give her a lemon, she wondered then immediately took it
back, accepting that she simply didn’t know how the Brotswin worked
yet. Obviously it would be different than a camera from back home.
Probably had some sort of hidden, magic compartment.

“That bad, eh?” Dwyn said.

“Not you guys. It’s me. I’ve gotta figure out
how it works. I’ll play with it while we travel.”

At that the Hovers rose into the air and
began the long journey to the port town of Divit. Hopefully.

Below, on the ground CPR tried her best to
keep up but more often than not they were forced to slow down and
even stop altogether while she tripped and galloped toward
them.

It was impossibly slow going. They would
never get to Divit at this rate. Eventually even Root came to this
conclusion. But abandoning the poor thing was no option. Instead
she landed Stogie and actually tried to boost CPR onto his back. He
was not amused. He evaded and growled and nipped when CPR was in
range. At last, when he realized that Root’s intent was steeled and
that this could go on for hours he surrendered to the clumsy
thing’s weight.

“Hokay. Let’s get outta here.” Root urged
with flushed cheeks.

CPR released a satisfied breath and
relaxed.

Until Stogie began to rise into the air. At
which point she panicked and squirmed and fell off. The boys
watched with dull sympathy as this happened several more times.
Annoyance eventually came to the forefronts of their minds.
Impatience set in. Suggestions went sharply untaken. In her own
stubborn time, Root discovered her own stubborn means: CPR was
yanked on Stogie’s back while the Hover simultaneously launched,
quickly taking them high enough that his new passenger was too
scared to jump off.

The boys shrugged. Whatever worked. They were
on their way; that was all that mattered.

Once a Hover height and rhythm were set Root
took a just-making-sure glance back at CPR. Aaaaawwwww! The poor
thing’s eyes were sooooooo big! Big, cute, terrified baby eyes. It
was totally a Kodak moment. She pulled out her Brotswin and aimed
it at CPR.

Puwff!

Root looked into the Brotswin’s screen. Again
a blur but this time there was no denying that the picture,
whatever it was, was not of CPR. The colors were different. The
light. And again, there seemed to be one single person in the
image. A woman? A man? And were those flowers?

Well, clearly these were just old pictures of
the Sage Mother’s that hadn’t been cleared out or something. Root
put the Brotswin away. But for the rest of the afternoon it
bothered her. For there was something strangely familiar in that
image. And soothing.

The team kept fairly low, staying in the
trees where the sun couldn’t melt them. Even so, it was soooooo
hot! And there was no running water. No river, no creek, no
nothing. If only Lian could figure out a way to squeeze the
moisture from the air, which was so heavy it felt like a damp fur
over them. Such a paradox, dying of thirst in a humidity-peaked
forest.

It was actually CPR who saved the day when
she boldly leapt from Stogie and landed at the mouth of a large
cool cave. ‘Cool’ being the operative word.

It was worth the risk.

They hid behind bushes at the opening, the
memory of the last cave still fresh and frightening.

Another pep talk was definitely in order.
Okay, maybe not. But a plan, definitely a plan. They looked at
Lian.

“What?” he said annoyed. “Don’t look at me. I
may know what kind of beasts live in caves but I have no idea what
kind of beast may live in this cave.”

Hmmmm…

Of the seven of them, animals included, six
were hesitant. CPR was the lone rebel ready to bet the ranch. A
leash of Sloshvine quickly put an end to that as Root battled to
shimmy it over the animal’s head. Was it her or was CPR bigger
already? She seemed bigger. Much bigger. And stronger. Yet, the
intelligent factor seemed to be conspicuously missing as CPR
continued to yank toward the cave’s belly. Sure, it was hot. They
were all sweltering and the mouth of the cave offered a cooling
respite. But, with absolutely no visibility, the
diving-right-in-approach wasn’t the wisest of plans.

“Wait!” Root whispered. “I’ve got an idea!”
She pulled out the Brotswin. “I’ll flash it inside and you can see
if it’s empty or not.”

“And if it’s not?”

“We’ll be on Hovers. We can take off if
something comes.”

A waft of cool air drifted from the cave.
That settled it.

. “Sorry, CPR” Root said as she and Lian and
Dwyn battled the squirming thing onto Stogie’s back again. Once
mounted, Root held the Brotswin up. With Lian and Dwyn flanking her
on Hana and Pilsnips, she glided forward and aimed at the cave.

Puwff!

“Not long enough. Can you do a few in a
row?”

Puwff! Puwff! Puwff! Puwff!

SCREEEEEEE!!!!

‘Lookout!”

The Hovers pitched into the air. It came at
them like a speed train. A charging beast, sooted in the dirt of
the cave, squealing and baring its teeth, ready to pounce its
hulking weight upon its trespassing enemy.

All two pounds of it.

The rat looked about. He could have sworn
he’d been rudely flashed by intruders. Something landed a couple
feet down the hill in front of him. He sniffed. Could it be? He
ventured forward. Another sniff. No, it can’t be. Another few steps
and…it is! It is! Fresh Hoverpoo! What had he done to get so lucky?
Let the feasting begin!

Once inside the cool, cool, oh so blessedly
cool cave Lian immediately (and rather giddily) made use of some of
his latest Ekladian acquirements, including a Door Restore that
built itself over the cave’s mouth thereby completely hiding the
entrance from view, particularly the rat’s view.

And now for some light. Lian followed the
directions carefully, a dash of heat, an appropriate amount of
rubbing, a smooth finish until, in the middle of the cave the
boulder that had been sitting there minding its own business began
to glow. It, in fact gave off enough light to overview nearly the
whole of the cave. The cave that was now seen to be
welcome-wagon-make-yourselves-at-home empty.

So while the satiated rat worked up a solid
sweat trying to find the door to his house that he was sure was
right there only moments before, three Hovers, three teens and a
CowPigRodent snoozed the sweltering afternoon away.

Hours later, when the nag of empty stomachs
woke them Lian and Dwyn decided to explore the surroundings of
their pit stop while Root remained, intent to figure out the deal
with her Brotswin. She didn’t know why but it felt urgent. She
looked it over. There was a screen to look through with a playback
option, the clicking picture-taking button thingy and…she turned
the Brotswin over…that was it. There was nothing else to jig or
flick at or ponder. Curious, she pressed the screen’s playback.
Where there should have been a two-pound rat charging forward from
a dark cave, she saw bright daylight and more blurs of people.

Lian and Dwyn raced back to the sound of
something banging. When they realized it was Root banging her
Brotswin in frustration, they sighed in relief.

“This stupid thing’s worse than Skubblenob’s
Tempometre. I can’t make it work.”

“Let me see it.” Lian said.

Root handed it to him and was surprised to
feel an overwhelming sense of reluctance. “It’s only showing
someone’s old pictures and I don’t know how to clear them.”

Lian leaned up comfortably against the great
bulk of Pilsnips and inspected the Brotswin. “That’s weird. There’s
nothing besides the Receiving Platform and the Engager. Nothing for
Imaginate transfer.”

“That’s an Imaginate?”

“No, I thought it was an Imagi-captor…the
mobile device that captures the images to be transferred to the
Imaginate…but now I’m not sure. What did she call it?”

“A Brotswin.”

“Hmmm, never heard of it.” Lian aimed the
Brotswin at Root.

Puwff!

“Hey! At least give me warning!” Root
blinked.

Lian looked into the screen.

And went horribly pale.

“What? What is it?” Root’s tone caught Dwyn’s
attention. “Lian! Are you okay?”

Lian slowly put the Brotswin down, confusion
rattling his brains. Dwyn grabbed it and looked at the screen.

“What the…hey, that’s your dad, Lian!”

“What?” Root drew near Dwyn and looked. “And
your mum, Ms. Fuffleteez!”

“Who’s the girl?” Dwyn smiled.

“No one!” Lian suddenly grabbed at the
Brotswin. But Dwyn was too fast.

“Oooooo, keepin’ it on the down-low, eh. Why?
Is that your girlfriend?”

“Gimme it, Dwyn.”

“It is! Lian’s got a girlfriend!” Then
sing-songy. “Blick’s got a girlfriend, Blick’s got a
girlfriend!

“She’s not my girlfriend!”

“Why not? Did she dump you?” This while
swiftly avoiding Lian’s grabbing hands.

“Just gimme the stupid Brotswin, Dwyn!”

“Could it be? Mister
‘I-don’t-do-relationships’ did a relationship?”

“Shut up, Dwyn!” Lian swung and missed again.
The tips of his ears were swelling red.

“Blick had a girlfriend! Blick had a
girlfriend!”

“She wasn’t my girlfriend, you stupid
jerk.”

“Right! Then who is she?”